We are starting to make big changes in our newsroom. We are fundamentally redefining journalism and making it more about our relationship with our community and our readers. It is radical and revolutionary.

We are creating a structure that will allow us to focus more of our efforts on delivering high-value, local content on our digital platforms. Our audience is moving quickly to getting more of its news on mobile phones, tablets and desktop. We need to be organized to meet those needs.

A structure primarily focused on producing a newspaper isn't as effective as it needs to be in the digital age. For example, all our processes and deadlines revolved around the time the final page went to press. Today, with our 24/7 Web presence, we have 1,440 deadlines online: one for every minute of the day.

We have to get faster. Our structure must help us be nimble.

The newsroom can't achieve what we need to do by trying to make small changes or layering new initiatives onto a structure created to produce a daily newspaper. Be assured, we will continue to produce an outstanding daily newspaper. But we will streamline our processes in the St. Cloud newsroom. The goal is to uncouple more of our efforts from print production.

Those changes will allow us to have more reporters focused on key topics and issues in our community.

We will increase the staff resources devoted to watchdog/investigative reporting.

We will have our staffers find new ways to engage our audience. Reporters will be more self-directed. Their mission will be to increase local content and grow our audience in the key topics they cover.

To have a complete "reset" of the organization and jobs in our newsroom, we are creating new positions. Of course, we will have reporters and photographers/videographers. But we are empowering them to become more entrepreneurial. We want them to connect even more with the communities they cover. They will look for ways to grow audience by developing an even better understanding of local issues by talking, tweeting and engaging with you.

Staffers can use highly effective metrics to measure how their content is doing on the digital platforms and make coverage changes. We will have news staffers who help provide strategy insights and audience analysis.

As part of the reorganization, all staffers will be required to apply for the new jobs. And the total staff size will be smaller.

In staff meetings during the past two weeks, I told our journalists there will be challenges and some pain during this journey. Change is always hard and emotional. But the changes will help us be a newsroom for the future.

I have promised the staff the reorganization will be well communicated, transparent and timely. I make the same pledge to the community as we work through this reset.

This community cares deeply about our news organization. We are committed to serving the information needs of our audience. We are restructuring to remain the top source for local news and watchdog work.

I will be providing more details on our reorganization in the coming weeks.

Walk in the Park

This week's Walk in the Park with Times staffers will be at noon Tuesday at Hester Park. Weather permitting, the group will meet at the tennis courts in the north corner in the beautiful park near the Mississippi River.

Please join our staffers for a stroll. They will answer questions, listen to ideas and get to know you. Officials from the St. Cloud Water Department will join the group. The water treatment plant is in Hester Park.

Do you have a question about the Times? You can ask St. Cloud Times Executive Editor John Bodette, P.O. Box 768, St. Cloud, MN 56302-0768; or call him at 255-8760; or email him at jbodette@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Google Plus under jlbodette; on Twitter @jlbodette and on Facebook, John Bodette — St. Cloud Times.

A Walk in the Park

This week's half-hour walk with Times staffers is in Hester Park. Here are future dates and locations:

Sept. 9: Watab Park in Sartell. Meet near the playground.

Sept. 16: Quarry Park & Nature Preserve. Meet in the parking lot off Stearns County Road 137. Stearns County Parks Director Peter Theismann will show attendees where the new swimming quarry will be. Free parking will be available for the walk.